Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away… and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment... – Acts 3:19-20

       Holy Week during my childhood days were not easy days. They were filled with rituals I could hardly understand. We were asked to obey rules that didn’t seem to make sense. (Why couldn’t we take a bath if Jesus was dead? And it was almost always at the peak of summer heat.) All that didn’t give “holy” a positive association in my mind.

       The times when we fall into sin and feel guilty may sometimes feel like my childhood Holy Week — heavy and oppressive. And yet, after an honest-to-goodness Holy Week, after repenting and/or going to confession, there is a beautiful sense of freedom and lightness of being.

       Many of us probably need to rethink about repentance and conversion. Our turning from sin to new life, from darkness to light, will bring a fresh new wind into our lives. Let us welcome this great grace and opportunity. Joy Sosoban-Roa (jsosoban@gmail.com)

Reflection: Don’t let the heaviness of the thought of confession keep you from availing of the sacrament. Focus on the lightness and grace you will feel as a result of it.

Dearest Father, You open Your arms wide for those who return to You sincerely. Help me to remember this so that I will always run back to You when I sin.

St. Casilda, pray for us.

11^ST READING

Peter believes that Jesus is still present in his ministry. The healing of the crippled man is testimony to that. This gives Peter the courage to continue to speak the truth of the Gospel even though the authorities are plotting to stop the spread of Christianity. We know that they failed dismally in this goal. Why? The truth of the Gospel cannot be silenced. The Good News will overcome all obstacles so that it is proclaimed.

11 As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.” 12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, “You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. 17 Now I know, brothers and sisters that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; 18 but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, 20 and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22For Moses said: A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you. 23 Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people. 24 “Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25 You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 26 For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

Psalm 8:2, 5, 6-7, 8-9

R: O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

1 [2] O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! 4 [5] What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? (R) 5 [6] You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 [7] You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet. (R) 7 [8] All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, 8 [9] the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas. (R)

To see the Risen Jesus must have been a surreal experience. It seems that Jesus is not immediately recognizable as Himself, but eventually it is evident that He is the Risen Lord. Let us reflect upon the gift of the resurrection of Jesus and what it means in terms of His victory over sin and death.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.

35 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of the bread. 36 While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” 40 And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of baked fish; 43 he took it and ate it in front of them. 44 He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”

think: The truth of the Gospel cannot be silenced.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Leviticus 10-12

IT IS WRITTEN

There are times when life is not a bowl of cherries, as Americans would say. In Pinoy context, peanuts could take the place of cherries. Life is not as easy as eating peanuts. Let me give you my time-tested formula. When the going gets tough, I go back to my favorite poems and read my best-loved lines from favorite writers.

     The written word has a way of soothing rattled nerves and straightening crumpled faces.

       I am a sentimental person. I keep old letters. I seldom delete years-old email messages from people dear to me, both living and dead. In the age of digital filing cabinets, I have taken to saving some of them as pdf files. In my low moments, I read some of them all over again. The written word does not fail to energize me to stay the course and do what I ought to do. Well-crafted poetry and prose always lift my spirits up and give me a fresh dose of courage for the challenges up ahead.

       If human words can do so much to uplift me, then all the more can we say the same about the Word of God. The two disciples “recounted all that had happened,” and that became a prelude to their “recognizing the Lord in the breaking of bread.” They were in the middle of “speaking” to each other when the Lord “stood in their midst.” The Lord Himself reminded them “of the words that [He] spoke while still with them.”

       “Thus it is written…” These are important words that usher in the great news of Christ’s suffering, death and rising from the dead on the third day. These are words that we need to hear again and again.

       My favorite authors’ words may give courage, but the Word of the Lord gives life. Thus it is written! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTION: What role does the Word of God have in your life?

Make me ever hungry for Your Word, O Lord, that I may seek consolation from it when I am down.